Air Compressor Maintenance

Air compressors are the backbone of manufacturing industries, and they are also used in a wide variety of sensitive environments in food production and health care. Businesses rely upon the reliable and efficient functioning of air compressor equipment. When an air compressor breaks down, production and business cease. Air compressor maintenance, therefore, is the lifeblood of any business which relies upon them.

Air compressor maintenance can be broken down into two categories:

• Servicing
• Repair

Both are essential to the ongoing performance of any air compressor. But how often should you service and/or repair your air compressor equipment? And what sort of steps can you take to maximize the longevity of the components your company needs?

How Often Should an Air Compressor be Serviced?

While leading air compressor technologies like those developed by BOGE Kompressoren require less maintenance overall than competitors, it is still critical that any informed businessperson maintain such equipment. Any downtime is a loss in revenue, so it is important to think about the prevention of such issues. As they say, prevention is worth a thousand cures. The greater the necessary repairs, the longer the downtime. It is critical then that air compressor owners take the correct steps to prevent issues before they occur. This is where a comprehensive and reliable servicing plan comes in.

Like having a car serviced, servicing air compressors and their components ensures that:

• Equipment is functioning safely
• Components are operating at peak performance
• Catastrophic failure of equipment is avoided

With regards to how often such servicing should be carried out, this depends on the equipment being serviced. If you have not yet purchased an air compressor, then this is a good time to answer the question: What is an air compressor? When you know more about the air compressor types available to you, then you can better anticipate the sort of servicing and maintenance you will require. Scroll compressors, screw compressors, turbo compressors, piston compressors, oil free designs, and oiled models all have different servicing intervals. Even specific models within each category of compressor will have varying servicing requirements.

BOGE Australia offers a comprehensive servicing package called Cairpac. Cairpac allows our skilled technicians to identify each customer’s individual needs with regards to maintenance and servicing. With Cairpac in place, BOGE experts can optimally tune components regularly, ensure that the best components for a specific task are being used, and help customers save large sums of money by avoiding costly replacements and repairs.

How Often Should You Change Oil in Your Air Compressor?

A key part of ensuring the long and efficient operation of an oiled air compressor is to know when to change its oil. Again, this depends on the specific model of compressor and the type of oil being used. For example, if an oiled air compressor is running on a petroleum-based oil then the oil will have to be changed more often than if a synthetic oil is used. This is also true of the type of compressor. Reciprocating air compressors like piston air compressors require more regular maintenance as opposed to scroll and screw compressors (find out more about our screw compressors). This is because of the larger number of moving parts and greater vibrations produced by a piston design. For specific durations on oil changes, it is best to contact the manufacturer of the air compressor in question.

It is important to recognise that regular oil changes keep air compressors running efficiently and safely. Most oiled air compressors come with a level or dip stick with which to measure the current oil level. This is a good indicator of how much oil is left in the system. However, it should also be noted that oil quality is of importance. The oil level can technically appear correct, however the quality of the oil can change in its viscosity, no longer lubricating the moving parts of the air compressor effectively after significant use. This is why as well as checking oil levels, the entire system should be drained periodically and refilled with new oil even when oil levels appear healthy.

BOGE Australia can help you identify when an oil change should be carried out for your specific BOGE air compressor model.

How Long Does an Air Compressor Last?

It is unfortunate that subpar manufacturing and innovation amongst some manufacturers have led to air compressors which simply do not last, nor do they operate as they should. BOGE Australia prides itself as part of BOGE Kompressoren’s peerless 100 year history, in delivering air compressors to businesses around the world which are reliable, efficient, and long lasting. When BOGE Kompressoren’s cutting edge air compressor technologies are combined with the excellent Cairpac maintenance program, each BOGE air compressor will last for many years to come.

Air Compressor Preventive Maintenance

When it comes to preventing the degradation of an air compressor, there are four steps you can take:

• Ensure that your air compressor is from a reliable manufacturer such as BOGE, and is certified for years of continuous use.
• Have your air compressor serviced at regular intervals by a qualified BOGE team member.
• When replacing filters and oil, only use brands which have been certified by BOGE for use with its air compressors.
• If a replacement part must be installed, only use BOGE’s original parts service. Do not use imitation or third party replacements which could render your air compressor’s warranty void. Third party components could also break your air compressor and, at worst, contaminate the produced air to create a health and safety hazard. This is especially important in setups which require class 0 clean air such as in the health care or food and beverage sectors.

BOGE Air Compressor in Australia

BOGE Australia proudly distributes the leading air compressors to the Australian market and beyond. Our compressors are durable, efficient, and can be serviced and maintained by BOGE Australia’s trained staff to ensure our customers massively reduce their running and maintenance costs.

If you have any queries about maintaining your air compressor correctly or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact BOGE Australia today. We are ready to save you time, money, and stress with first class air compressors and servicing you can trust.